Cam watched the interaction between Roxy and Evan, his smirk slowly fading as he realized the weight behind Evan’s discomfort. He looked over at Evan, his expression shifting to something more concerned. "Wait, hold up." He furrowed his brows, his voice quiet now. "You’re still carrying that around, aren’t you?"
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Evan didn’t meet his eyes right away, his fingers drumming on the side of the couch as his jaw tightened. There was a pause, and then, with a heavy sigh, he finally spoke up, his voice low, almost like he was speaking to himself.
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"When I was 22... I moved to LA with a girl I thought I was in love with." He glanced at Roxy, his eyes clouded with something darker than regret. "She got pregnant... and we were both scared shitless. We didn’t have enough money to do anything, and I just..."
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He stopped, swallowing hard, trying to find the right words. "I wanted to do everything right, but I could just sense that she was going to handle it on her own. And she did. She had the abortion without telling me until after it was done. And I felt... I felt fucking useless." His voice wavered slightly, the vulnerability in it making the air heavier. "It destroyed me. She erased what was mine, and I hated myself for not being there... for not stopping her, for not being able to help. So I broke up with her, couldn’t deal with it. Couldn’t deal with the thought that she erased it, erased "us."
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Evan clenched his fists, the memory still raw. "And that’s when I came up with the band slogan—‘They will not erase us.’ It was my way of dealing with it. My way of saying... I won’t let them erase me again."
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Cam sat silently for a moment, digesting Evan’s words. Then, with a solemn nod, he leaned back and said, "Man, that’s... that's heavy. But you’ve been holding onto this for years, haven’t you?"
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Evan didn’t answer at first, but his eyes darkened with regret. "Yeah, I have. But I can’t go back and change it. I just... I guess I never wanted to talk about it. Didn’t want to let anyone in on how much I hated myself for it."
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